Early Fall McCalls....

Oh, I love so many of the early fall release of McCall's.  For me, it is all about dresses.  How I wish I had a need for a lot of dresses.  Here are the lovely patterns I picked:

This is M7469 a Nicole Miller design,  This is a fabulous dress and I love the lines of it except for the slit at the front hem.  You really need to hop over there and look at the dress that was made for the pattern. Lovely.

This is M7464.  Looking to create that hour glass figure.  This is the pattern will definitely do it with color blocking.  In addition to the sleeveless look, there are two additional sleeves.

This is M7466.  Another lovely little dress.  This is another you can have fun with if you have right fabric.

Sew many patterns, sew little time.

Happy Stitching

Sydney and the Festival of Lights....

We spent a great deal of time around the Sydney Harbor while we were in Sydney.  Here's the famous opera house:

However, VIVID was going on while we were there.  What is VIVID?  It's a festival of lights, music, and ideas.  Here's a pictures of what the opera house looked like at night:

Beautiful isn't it?  There are a lot more pictures than this.  My DH did make a video that I attempted to upload but it was too big.

Happy Stitching!

New Patterns....

McCall's had a pattern right after my Fall Buttericks post and I couldn't resist adding a couple of new patterns that were in that post.  So, I have added the following two patterns:

This is B6385.  A Lisette pattern for Butterick.  It has the cup sizing up to a D.  The pattern shows three variations in the collar.  Has anyone tried the Butterick version of cup sizing?  I have the perfect fabric in my stash and it is definitely time to pull it out.  I wonder what the chances of it getting done this year are?

This is B6388.  I really like this fun little pattern and it is meant for french terry and sweatshirt fleece.  Hopefully, I picked well on the sizing.  I really like the dress but would want to lengthen it to the knee.

I think I'm going to take a break from quilt sewing and do some garment sewing.  I never quite got to any summer sewing maybe I can get some fall/winter sewing done.

Happy Stitching!

Thread and Lint...

I've been working on quilts almost continuously since last fall.  The first quilt was a mystery quilt (still needs binding), bound a quilt that my grandmother made, and I working one a quilt for my son. I have been using Mettler Metrosene Poly and this thread seems extremely linty to me.  Anyone else had an issue with this thread?  I have been cleaning my machine every time the bobbin runs out and getting a huge pile of lint.  I do realize that fabric makes a contribution.  The lint pile is about the size of a nickel every time I clean.  I've been taking the bobbin area completely apart cleaning the entire area around the bobbin case area, the feed dogs, and the presser foot.  Now, that I'm thinking about I don't clean anything with the upper path and wonder if I should be.

What thread to you use that doesn't produce large quantities of lint?  I will continue using the thread that I have until the box is empty but I'm willing to try a different brand.

Actually, I think the Mettler thread that I have actually produces more lint than the Dual Duty brand.

Please give me your thoughts on thread brands.

Happy Stitching!

Sydney and the Whales....

Our first day in Sydney was a beautiful late fall day.  My husband mentioned that he really wanted to go see the whales but knew that I might not want to go.  In general, I don't like the water much.  Oh, I'll get in it and do fun water things but sometimes there are huge panic attacks.  I stopped and talked to the captain at one of the whales tours.  I asked how the water was and explained that occasionally I would have panic attacks.  He said that water was calm for a late fall day and that he had a spot in the middle of the boat for me.  We went whale watching with no panic attacks.  The water wasn't as calm as I would have liked it but I was in the middle of the boat.  Here's some of our whale pictures:

I can't say if these young humpback whales are all in the same pod because we saw three separate pods while we were out.  The whales didn't come right up to our boat but they came fairly close.  It was wonderful to see these magnificent creatures.

Happy Stitching!

Fall Buttericks

Yeah I'm dreaming of garment sewing but I'm still quilt sewing (this does't feel like it's going to end).  Here are my picks from the new Butterick patterns for fall:

This fabulous little dress is from B6387 which is a lifestyle wardrobe that consists of a jacket, pants, and a dress.  I could this dress made more than once easily.  How about adding a jacket that matches the skirt for a suit look or all solid or some print?

I love the look of this Chanel-look jacket.  This is B6382.  If I was working in an office environment, this pattern would have already been in my cart.  Love, love, love the look.

This is like the picture coat pattern.  It is B6385.  It comes with 3 collar variations and 4 bust cups.  Yes, this one is definitely coming home and I already have the perfect fabric.

Isn't this a fun little dress?  It even has pockets!  This is B6388. The pattern comes with a vest, top with sleeve variations, dress, and pants.  I'm thinking that this one is coming home also.  If French Terry is your love, this is the perfect pattern.

Have a love for vintage looks?  This is wonderful and reminds me very much of a vintage dress that I owned in my 20s (yes, I wore it). This is B6374.  I'm going to consider this as I think it would look wonderful in crepe fabric. I would want to find the fabric first plus locate a muslin fabric for fitting.

How fun would this little vintage piece be? This is B6399 and is part of the historical collection.  Wouldn't this be fun for a costume or even just a party dress?

 What do you think of my picks?  How do your picks differ?

Happy Sewing!

Pictures of Hawaii...

I finally have a few pics to share of Hawaii.  We were there only a couple of days on our way to Australia.  We landed at 5:30 in the morning.  First thing we did was change from our travel clothes, and find breakfast.  Then we headed over to the Pearl Harbor to visit the USS Arizona Memorial.  Here's a few pictures;

This was a very sobering experience.  I can't really describe how I felt.  We didn't spend a lot of time there as we were allowed only the amount of time it took for another boat to  arrive. I was shocked to see that fuel was still leaking.

On to a little bit of the beautiful scenery:

Taken at a park on Oahu.

Along the Kamena Highway.

At the beach.

Sunrise at the beach.

Who can resist a great rainbow shot?  This one actually looked like it ended up at the house of our hosts.

At another park, Waimea Falls.

Torch Flowers.  A type of ginger.

Hope you enjoyed a glimpse of Hawaii.  I know that my husband has only started working on the photos and that there are many more. It takes a long time to get through 2500 photos.

Happy Stitching!